Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office of the United Kingdom responded to the letter dated June 15, 2023 of Coordination Council of Azerbaijanis in the UK regarding Armenia's attempt to aggravate the ecological situation at the border with Azerbaijan.

The UK government is itself committed to upholding the highest environmental quality standards. We encourage other countries to do the same through active leadership in this area about climate change, including our COP26 and G7 Presidencies, said FCDO of the UK.

The letter stresses that the UK government supports the UN Economic Commission for Europe Convention on Environmental Impact Assessment in a Transboundary Context (Espoo convention), which provides a mechanism for the resolution between two Parties about the interpretation or application of the Convention. We actively engage in dialogue with both Azerbaijan and Armenia on environmental standards. Our Regional Climate Ambassador, David Moran, emphasised the importance of this on a visit to Armenia late last year and the UK has also signed Transition to Clean Energy and Climate Change MoUs with the Azerbaijan Ministries of Energy and Ecology and Natural Resources, respectively, said FCDO of the UK.

It was emphasised that Grassroots level projects have also been supported, in partnership with NGOs such as the International Dialogue for Environmental Action (IDEA) in Azerbaijan to support initiatives to inspire schoolchildren to take action to offset climate change and protect on a community level.

The letter concludes as follows: “We continue to engage across a wide range of issues with both governments to encourage the momentum and de-escalation needed towards a historic peace deal”.

It should be noted that the statement addressed to the local community and international organizations on behalf of the Coordination Council of Azerbaijanis in the UK, condemns  construction of a large metallurgical plant by Armenia with an annual production capacity of 180,000 tons in the village of Yeraskh (Arazdeyan) on the border with the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic of Azerbaijan.